Chapter 16

Avril laid down on the floor of her room. Her hands folded behind her head. Her legs crossed, the sounds of her favorite music filling the air as she stared blindly at the ceiling. She didn't bother to change out of her clothes or remove her makeup. Her mind rewinding that moment she and Thomas were alone in the kitchen before the blasted doorbell rang.

Ughhhhhhh. She couldn't get the image out of her head. Everytime she thought of the way he looked at her and of how close his body was to her's...especially his lips...she felt lightheaded. She didn't want to read too much into it. What a disaster would it be for her to be under the misconception that a man like Thomas was interested in her. She would die of embarrassment if he were to tell her it was a mistake after she stupidly talked herself into having feelings or expectations of him.

Damn it! She felt as if she was going crazy. She couldn't come up with a single explanation for Thomas' reaction. She sighed heavily. Her eyes giving in to the call of slumber. She hoped that, at least, in sleep, she wouldn't be plagued with the perplexity that was Thomas Lynne.
*************
Thomas, though initially surprised, couldn't help himself from smiling as he gazed down at the limp body of a man bound, tied, and neatly stuffed in the trunk of Autin's car. He had to hand it to Austin, capturing and locking the mole in the trunk of his car wasn't expected, but it wasn't unwelcomed either. They were given the perfect opportunity to gather information.

Both men dragged the spy into the garage and bound him to a chair. He was unconscious.

"Shouldn't he be awake by now?" Thomas questioned. It had probably been over two hours since he'd been captured and held in Austin's car.
The corner of Austin's lip quirked in a knowing smirk. "He'll come to in a few minutes. I drugged him, it was a lot cleaner that way and no blood to stain my suit." Austin motioned to his impeccable state of dress. This man had a love for his appearance.
The captive finally came to. At first, he blinked a few times for awareness to sink in, once it did his body wiggled and swerved in different directions. His struggle was futile and he soon found that the ropes that bound him were unbreakable.
The captive gazed both at Thomas and Austin, his eyes signalling that he recognized them. Thomas felt a tinge of recognition as well. He didn't quite know this man but he certainly saw him before.

"What is this?" The bounded spy questioned. Thomas raised his eyebrows at this man's obvious attempt at bravado. However, his voice gave him away, he was trying very hard to feign defiance and yet his voice cracked at the last second.

"An intelligent man such as yourself should already have some ideas." Austin baited.
"Don't patronize me." The man responded strongly but his demeanor was shattering like broken glass...the cracks falling piece by piece.

"We wouldn't dare." Thomas responded indifferently. "However, I am not exactly a patient man..." He let the words dissolve into the air as he pulled out a dagger from the inside of his jacket. He looked at it carefully, his fingers tracing every deadly curve. It was actually his favorite dagger, a bit dangerous to use since it would require him to either get really close to his enemy or risk throwing it without having hit his target and then consequently being left without a weapon. Nevertheless, there was something pure about using such weapons as compared to guns.
The spy was riled. His eyes glued to the blade of Thomas' dagger. Its glittering teeth begging for his blood.
Austin looked at Thomas. "Of course you'd choose the messiest method. Have you no regard for my poor suit?" Autin exhaled heavily, shoving his fingers in his hair.

"What else would you suggest? We drug him for another two hours? I don't think that's a wise torture technique." Thomas responded with a shrug.

"Torture!" The spy sounded horrified but both men ignored him as if he wasn't there.

"My God, you really do underestimate me. Don't you know I am the God of all things toxic?" Austin replied smugly.

"Oh? A God you say. That's quite an estimation" Thomas goaded him. They often made fun of each other's chosen techniques.

"I know of poisons that could break a person within minutes." Austin revealed proudly.

"I just need a few seconds." Thomas countered, waving his dagger in front of Austin.

"Stop, please." The spy interjected.

"And wasted hours in laundry." Austin began digging through his pockets.

"Well, let's see what you got." Thomas smiled, once again ignoring the spy.

"I said wait!" The man yelled out.

Both men looked at him them. "I will tell you every thing you need to know, there is no need for...such extreme methods."
Thomas smirked and Austin tried to conceal his smile.

"Whenever you're ready." Austin prompted, pulling up a chair to have a seat.

" you have to understand, I didn't mean to betray the organization. Its just that I was left with little choice." He began.

"There is always a choice." Thomas responded.

"Then tell me, how could one choose between their family's safety and others?" He questioned. His eyes glistening, his voice cracking.

Austin and Thomas was now fully interested in what this man had to say.

"My daughter is only ten and my wife and I have already lost our oldest son. I couldn't afford to lose them to. " the tears began flowing down his cheeks.

"Where is your family now?" Austin questioned.

"They are being held captive. I can't see them until the demise of the organization." He responded.

"Someone wants to destroy the organization? So it's much more serious that we thought." Thomas spoke the words aloud in an attempt to reorganize his thoughts.

"Its a rival organization." The man revealed.

"We have treaties with our rival organizations. The laws prohibit such action." Austin responded.

"Its a declaration of war." Thomas interjected, the pieces fitting together.

"Thats right. Our organization is the most successful, we have the best assassins, our fail rates are closed to nonexistent. But that's not the only reason."

"Go on." Both men encouraged.

" This particular organisation advocates for the criminals of the world. I've heard that their plans have constantly been derailed by our organization. They appear legitimate but the details of their operations are shady. Our organization is royalty in the world of assassins, if they take the title then it would only promote the criminal activities we attempt to stop."

"What's the name of the organization?" Thomas questioned.

"What about my family?" The man questioned. " If they know that I betrayed them... "

"Do not fret. I will bring your family back and since you were acting under duress I shall advocate a lighter sentence for you." Thomas responded.

"Now, tell us who's responsible." Austin intervened.
....................

Avril awoke with a stiff neck. She'd fallen asleep on the floor fully dressed, her shoes on and with a full face of makeup. "When did you become such a mess?" She asked herself as she peered at her reflection.

She checked her watch an sighed. She'd overslept... as usual but she was supposed to go to the university to drop of her documents. She would be starting classes soon.
She ran into the shower and cleaned up as fast as she could, she was sure she would have to wait long judging by the hour. She didn't want to think of the lines of new students she'd have to navigate around.

She sat on her bed towelling off her hair when there was a purposeful knock on the door.
Her heart began racing.

"Its open." She called out.
Thomas pushed the door open and stepped in.

"Going somewhere?" He questioned instantly, momentarily forgetting the reason he'd come to see her.

"I have some documents to drop off at the university." She responded.

"Ahh, meet me down stairs when your ready then. I'll drop you off." His words were soothing. It was this side of him that tugged at her heart and confused her feelings.
"You don't have to do that." She responded just as soothingly. Something was different between them. It seemed so quiet compared to their usual conversations.

"I will be waiting, Avril." He responded, ignoring her refusal.

"Okay." She submitted and he left.
When she finally made her way downstairs, Avril found Thomas waiting by the front door. They exited and entered his car.

"I have to leave." He said after ten minutes of driving.

"Leave?" Avril questioned, her body suddenly a mixture of cold and warm. "Are you going to buy something?" She wasn't sure why he would need to tell her something so trivial.

"To work. To be honest. I had told my father I was only taking a couple of weeks of but your arrival had made me prolonged my vacation." He began and Avril couldn't help but think of how much of a burden she was. He's stayed to look after her.

"But something urgent has come up and I need to go back. Its going to be for a couple of weeks. Trish is not in the county at the moment. Luckily she is returning in two days so I won't have to worry about you." Thomas really didn't want to leave her alone. No, his reasons were not so selfless. He'd wanted to stay for his own peace of mind.

"You don't need to worry about me. I can take care of myself." She responded. She would try not to have him worry. She wasn't his responsibility.

"If only it were that simple. But yes, I don't want you staying alone, do you have a friend you could stay with while Trish is still away?" He questioned

"I do, I'll call right now." She picked up her cell.

"Only female candidates." He reminded her and Avril rolled her eyes.
"I shudder to know what it is you think of me. Its my friend Sarah." She responded, holding her phone up to his eye level so he could read Sarah's name in her phonebook.

"Good. I also had my father call your parents and told them that our telephone line will be disconnected for a couple of days so they can call on your cell. I didn't say anything about you staying elsewhere so they won't be upset with you." he pulled out of the driveway.

"You really thought of everything." Avril said more to herself.
*******

Thomas waited with her, despite her efforts to persuade him otherwise until she was able to hand in her documents. Every female body stared at him but he appeared oblivious. She was certain that many of these women were either mentally killing her off or thought she couldn't possibly be in a relationship with him.
After an hour and a half of waiting they were finally leaving. Thomas carried her for breakfast. His excuse was that this was his penance for inconveniening his guest multiple times before. And once again she was reminded of her place. She was just his guest and he a doting host.